68 THE MULE. 



world, we find men of rank, and even rulers, using tlicm 

 on state and similar occasions ; and this when it might 

 have been supposed that the horse, being the nobler 

 animal, would have made more display. 



The Scriptures tell us that Absalom, when he led 

 the rebel hosts against his father David, rode on a mule, 

 that he rode under an oak, and hung himself by the 

 hair of his head. Then, again, we hear of the mule at 

 the inauguration of King Solomon. It is but reasonable 

 to suppose that the horse would have been used on that 

 great occasion, had he been present. On the other hand, 

 it is not reasonable to suppose that the ass, or any thing 

 pertaining to him, was held in high esteem by a nation 

 that believed they were commanded by God, through 

 their prophet Moses, not to work the ox and the ass 

 together. It must be inferred from this that the ass 

 was not held in very high esteem, and that the prohibi- 

 tion was for the purpose of not degrading the ox, he 

 being of that family of which the perfect males were 

 used for sacrifice. The ass, of course, was never allowed 

 to appear on the sacred altar. And yet He who came 

 to save our fallen race, and open the gates of heaven, 

 and fulfil the words of the prophet, rode a female of 

 this apparently degraded race of animals when He made 

 his triumphal march into the city of the temple of the 

 living God. 



